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The Gulf region's leading men's luxury lifestyle magazine. For men who understand that the true value of luxury is its foundation in knowledge. Not so much a website, but an indispensable guide to life.

Subscribe to the magazine

The Gulf region's leading men's luxury lifestyle magazine. For men who understand that the true value of luxury is its foundation in knowledge. Not so much a website, but an indispensable guide to life.

Everything you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S8

After the Note 7 took Samsung out of the smartphone competition last year, here’s the phone the company’s hopes hinge on.

March 30, 2017

After months of rumours and leaks – which people are now saying Samsung did to generate more hype – the Samsung galaxy S8 and its larger sibling the S8 plus is finally here. Here’s what you need to know about it.

No bezelsThe S8 showcases a bizarre display with an 18.5:9 ratio. Considering that this is wider than the 16:9 aspect ration we’ve grown accustomed to, Samsung has chopped off the S8 bezels to facilitate the screen size

No home buttonAbout 83 per cent of Samsung’s newest phone will be dominated by the 2960 x 1440 display. As such, the Samsung Galaxy S8 will not feature a physical home button like its previous devices. Instead, the phones have a virtual home button located on the bottom portion of the display that vibrates when you press on it.

Fingerprint scannerWith the absence of a home button, Samsung has had to move the S8’s fingerprint sensor to the back of the phone, next to the camera.

Iris scannerLike the Note 7, the S8 will feature an iris scanner. Unlike the Note 7 though, you no longer need to line your eyes up with the circles on the screen. Also, it doesn’t explode.

BatterySpeaking of explosions, the new models will feature smaller batteries compared to competitors. No guesses why. The aim here is to have a decent battery. There’s always the fast charging function to help when you’re in a pinch. The S8 has a 3000mAh cell while the S8+ gets a 3500mAh cell.

Portable computerThanks to a little docking station called the Dex Station, the S8 can become your very own portable computer. All you need to do is connect the Dex Station to a screen. It even lets you use a mouse and keyboard via Bluetooth. Or course the computer OS is Android based but the company have partnered with Microsoft and Adobe as well.

BixbyLike Apple, Google, Amazon and Microsoft, Samsung’s S8 will debut Bixby: a digital butler. In fact, the AI even gets its own button. Apart from its regular AI assistant roles, Bixby can also understand what’s on your screen by using your camera. For example, you can send a screenshot to someone by saying "capture this and send it to Aaron". It can also edit photos in your image gallery, as well as identify landmarks and text for translation.

CameraShockingly, the S8 and S8+ doesn’t come with a dual camera setup. In fact, the rear camera seems to be largely unchanged from what was used in the S7. Both versions of the S8 will feature a 12MP rear camera. The front camera will be an 8-megapixel shooter with a f/1.7 aperture and autofocus.

It does have a headphone jackNot just that Samsung has announced that the Galaxy S8 and S8+ come bundled with a pair of wired headphones from Harman’s AKG brand, which is known for churning high-end audio products. The wired Harmon AKG headphones cost $99 (or approx Rs. 6428).

Still water resistantBoth versions of the S8 are IP68 certified, meaning the devices can be submerged in up to five feet of water for up to 30 minutes.

Release dateRumours suggest the phone will go on sale towards the end of April, perhaps April 28.

PriceThe estimated price of the S8 is $720 and the S8+ is $840. We will have Middle East prices when the phone launches here.

Subscribe to the magazine

The Gulf region's leading men's luxury lifestyle magazine. For men who understand that the true value of luxury is its foundation in knowledge. Not so much a website, but an indispensable guide to life.